Perea "Beyond the Jordan"

God chose a rugged, wild area mostly inhabited by Gentiles to bring salvation into the world. God is just, merciful and gracious to all of His creation.

New Testament commentators speak of Jesus' "Perean Ministry", beginning with his departure from Galilee (Matt 19:1; Mark 10:1) and ending with the anointing by Mary in Bethany (Matt 26:6) or his journey towards Jerusalem commencing from Mark 10:32.

PEREA was a land inhabited by the tribe of REUBEN the eldest son of Jacob with Leah...The tribe of GAD, the seventh son of Jacob by Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid…And the tribe of MANASSEH,  Jacob’s grandson, born in Egypt to Joseph and his wife, Asenath, daughter of the priest Potiphera.

It is ironic that the gentiles, the Jews viewed with disdain, would be offered salvation in this very area. The firstborn Son of God, rejected by the Jews, would be the Messiah and the salvation of the world. Christ within is the hope of glory.

Numbers 32:1 - Now the children of Reuben and the children of Gad had a very great multitude of cattle: and when they saw the land of Jazer, and the land of Gilead, that, behold, the place [was] a place for cattle;

Numbers 32:33 - And Moses gave unto them, [even] to the children of Gad, and to the children of Reuben, and unto half the tribe of Manasseh the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, and the kingdom of Og king of Bashan, the land, with the cities thereof in the coasts, [even] the cities of the country round about.

Joshua 13:24 - And Moses gave [inheritance] unto the tribe of Gad, [even] unto the children of Gad according to their families.

Reuben or Re'uven (Hebrew: רְאוּבֵן, was the eldest son of Jacob with Leah. He was the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Reuben.It is said that God having witnessed Leah's misery, in regard to her status as the less-favourite of Jacob's wives granted her a son. Leah hopes that Reuben's birth will make Jacob love her. The rabbinical sources argue that the first cities of refuge were located in the territory of the tribe of Reuben, since Reuben (the individual) had tried to save Joseph from the mob of his brothers.

Gad was the seventh son of Jacob by Zilpah, Leah’s handmaid. He was the founder of the tribe of Gad.

Jacob’s grandson,Manasseh, for whom the tribe was named, was born in Egypt to Joseph and his wife, Asenath, daughter of the priest Potiphera.

Perea (Περαία, Peraia); Also known as “Beyond the Jordan” (עֵבֶר הַיַרְדֵּן, ever hayarden; πέραν ὁ Ἰορδάνης, peran ho Iordanēs). A region east of the Jordan River and south of Galilee that factors prominently in the ministries of John the Baptist and Jesus. Perea was part of the kingdom of Herod the Great; after his death in 4 bc, it was given (along with Galilee) to Herod Antipas. Much larger indeed than Galilee, it is generally desert and rugged, and too wild for the growth of delicate fruits. In some parts, however the soil is loamy and prolific, and trees of various kinds cover the plains ; but the olive-tree, the vine, and the palm tree, are those principally cultivated.

Jews from Gilead were among those deported to Assyria (2 Kgs 15:29). Little evidence attests to further Jewish settlement in the region until the Maccabean period (second and first centuries bc).

With his death in 44 CE, Agrippa's merged territory was made province again, including Judaea and for the first time, Perea. From that time Perea was part of the shifting Roman provinces to its west: Judaea, and later Syria Palaestina, Palaestina and Palaestina Prima.

Perea remained under Agrippa II’s control until his death in ad 100, after which the region became part of the province of Syria.

The Christian Armenians who were deported from Armenia and forcibly settled in the New Julfa/Isfahan region of Iran named a major village "Perea" in honor of the important significance of Perea as the resting place of John the Baptist.

During the Old Testament period the region roughly equivalent to Perea—then called Gilead (Josh 12:2)—was divided among the tribes of Reuben, Gad and Manasseh (Josh 12:6; 22:9). The region remained under Israel’s authority during the monarchies of Saul and David and through 733 bc, when the Assyrians gained control.

Aside from some variant readings of Luke 6:17, Perea is not mentioned by name in the New Testament—referred to instead as “beyond the Jordan” (Matt 4:15, 25; 19:1; Mark 3:8; 10:1; John 1:28; 3:26; 10:40).

John the Baptist seems to have based his ministry in a Perean town—Bethany (John 1:28). John likely baptized Jesus in this area (Matt 3:13), and John’s disciples note that Jesus was with John “on the other side of the Jordan” (John 3:26).

Jews traveling from Galilee to Jerusalem usually traveled along a longer route through Perea to circumvent Samaria. Jesus seems to have followed this practice occasionally; for instance, during his final journey from Galilee to Jerusalem, he travels through the region on the other side of Jordan River (Matt 19:1).